Taking inspiration from the world we live in can create a beautiful senior session.  Mandy of Mandy Evans Photography says she took her inspiration from the four elements:  Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

“Elani knew that she wanted to incorporate the elements, so we went from there,” said Mandy.  “We used her love of yoga to incorporate the Earth element as well as earth tones in her clothing.”

Check out this beautiful session below and read what else Mandy had to share about it.  Thank you for sharing your work with Seniorologie Mandy!!

Website:  mandyevansphoto.com

Blog:  mandyevansphoto.com/blog

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/mandyevansphoto.com

What was your inspiration for this photo shoot?
The 4 elements.  Earth, Air, Fire, Water.

Where did this photo shoot take place?
Ozark, MO

Did you collaborate with this senior to come up with the clothing and/or concept for this shoot?
Yes!  Thanks to seniorologie and some of the amazing tips I learned while attending this past April, I was able to create a great starting point for each of my seniors to begin designing their session.  Elani knew going into her consultation that she wanted to incorporate the elements, so we went from their.  We used her love of yoga to incorporate into the Earth element. Elani also selected Earth tones for her clothing for this part of the session.  She did a great job not only at layering her clothing but also her jewelry.  Her outfit choices for Air included the colors aqua, purples, pinks and silver.  I kept the posing really natural for this portion.  We also incorporated wild flowers for her to blow into the camera.  For water Elani had two different looks, the first look had a very “Brooke Shields from the Blue Lagoon” feel, last years prom dress was used at the end of the session for a “mermaid” look.  Fire was a bit more challenging, as much as I love the hunger games I wanted to stay away from the feel of Katniss.  The imagery of flames behind her or engulfing her and the golden hour light made this portion of the session perfect! We thought he contrast of the warmth of the “fire” and a white dress would look perfect.

What camera, lens or other equipment was used for this shoot?
Canon 5D mark III Canon 85mm 1.2 lens

What time of day were these taken?
early evening-sunset

Can you share any post-processing techniques used when editing this session?
Clean and Sharp.  I love the look of color, so I incorporate a very saturated look into my images. Vivid and Bright!

What is your favorite thing about this session?
Elani’s mom is a former coworker of mine and the head of the art department for the school district I used to teach in.  I knew from the second she contacted me that they would bring some great ideas to the table and they did!  I really loved having the opportunity to collaborate with Elani and her mom, seeing the visions of three creative people come together is pretty amazing!
I had the vision of what I wanted to do for fire, but hadn’t ever done it before.  It was amazing to see it all fall into place!

What do you want this session to convey about this senior and about your senior photography style?
Elani is such a beautiful young lady.  It tickled my heart to meet such a down to Earth girl!  I loved the unique inspiration of this session and was so excited to go forward with it.  Watching Elani practice yoga during her session so calmly was pretty amazing. Finding a way to incorporate the practice, the fashion and still focus on Elani at this age was what I focused on. Being able to intertwine my love of art and color into the session made us a perfect match.

What is one tip you can share with other photographers regarding photographing seniors?
Have fun!  I hope to always create an experience for each of my seniors.  They get to do this once!  I also have really learned the importance on educating my clients on products.  Find out what they want ahead of time, keep this in mind while at their session. If you know they are really wanting a large piece of wall art, knowing that ahead of time will have you shooting differently.  If they are interested in an album or image box, move throughout the session telling a story.  Create Beautiful Art.